Yokohama concedes NISMO tyre supply deal unlikely
The #23 and #3 Nissan Zs will need a new tyre supplier for 2024 and beyond following Michelin’s shock decision, announced earlier this year, to withdraw from the GT500 class upon the conclusion of the current season. Yokohama currently supplies only the Kondo Racing Nissan squad and Toyota outfit Racing Project Bandoh, and has enjoyed […]
Shank admits IMSA future plans “coming down to the last minute”
The factory Acura team’s current deal ends after this season’s Petit Le Mans in October and its future with the brand was put in question following the manipulation of tire data in the season-opening Daytona 24 Hours, which it won. The team was assessed a 200-point penalty for the infringement and it apologized to Acura […]
De Oliveira eyeing WEC GT3 opportunity after Monza debut
Formula Nippon and SUPER GT champion de Oliveira was drafted in to join the Vanwall team for the fifth round of the WEC season alongside Esteban Guerrieri and Tristan Vautier when Tom Dillmann elected to quit the ByKolles-run outfit. De Oliveira said last year after winning his second title in SUPER GT’s GT300 class for […]
Nissan evaluating Z NISMO bodywork for 2024
The #230 Nissan test car that ran alongside 2024 cars from rival GT500 manufacturers Honda and Toyota featured minor aerodynamic changes compared to the current Z challenger, which made its debut last year. With the GT500 regulations unfrozen next year, Nissan has taken the chance to base its test mule on the NISMO version of […]
Miki Koyama reflects on history-making Fuji stint
But her time at the wheel of the Arnage Racing Lexus RC F GT3 she shares with Igor Fraga and Yuga Furutani was not one she will remember fondly, as she was forced to struggle on a drying track while using wet tyres. Koyama took over on lap 67 of 93, just as the race […]
Sepang SUPER GT test revival could pave way for 2025 race
SUPER GT released its 2024 calendar in the run-up to last weekend’s Fuji race, featuring eight races but no events outside of Japan for the fifth season in a row. The series last ventured abroad in 2019 at the Buriram circuit in Thailand, and trips to both that venue and Sepang were planned for 2020 […]
The calls behind Gainer’s irresistible Fuji charge
A late charge by Ryuichiro Tomita in the #11 Gainer Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 allowed him to grab the lead at the start of the penultimate lap, easily passing the works Subaru BRZ that was struggling for pace with badly-worn wet tyres on a drying track. The timing of the final change from wets to […]
How mid-race recce allowed NDDP Nissan to dominate at Fuji
The #3 Nissan Z shared by Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi was the class of the field in a wet-dry race on Sunday that was interrupted by a red flag, taking the chequered flag some 44 seconds clear of the field. Once again, the superiority of the Michelin tyres in the wet was clear, and when […]
Tsuchiya Supra GT300 car destroyed in fire at Fuji
The #25 Hoppy-sponsored car driven by Seita Nonaka and Togo Suganami was consumed in a blaze that began on lap 66 of 100, and caused the race to be red-flagged two laps later as marshals struggled to contain the fire. Earlier in the race, the Tsuchiya-run #244 Max Racing Supra of Atsushi Miyake and Kimiya […]